I’m not a wedding photographer. And, in the sense that the conference means, it I’m not a portrait photographer either. I’m most definitely not a professional photographer, I make my living in software development and haven’t charged anyone for a shoot yet. So why WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International)? It’s fun to learn, and sometimes interesting to meet others (I may have mentioned I’m an introvert).
I flew into Vegas Sunday and left Saturday afternoon. Mostly a good trip, I got out to Red Rock and up to Valley of Fire to do a little hiking and a little picture taking. I’m still struggling with my landscape photography I think, my eye just isn’t aware yet what makes a good shot and what doesn’t.
I did a somewhat random shoot with a couple of models out of Arizona early one morning. We just did a walk-n-shoot around a few of the hotels, and it was fun. Short, but a good way to begin the week.
I drove up to Valley of Fire early one morning, and got there before sunrise. Didn’t find the best spot to setup, but I enjoyed the time and quiet. Oddly I met a family from Virginia, from a town about 45 minutes from me, right as the sun was coming up. Nice people, very excited about being there for sunrise. From there I drove into the park and checked out some spots I hadn’t really been before. Decided to hike down into Fire Canyon.. and that turned into a longer expedition than originally intended. There wasn’t really a trail, and I left my pack in the car, and blah blah unprepared, stubborn and lucky. Anyway, made for a great day :)
Red Rock I drove out to in the evening and hiked a little. Only took a few shots near sunset, not a lot of interest in the sky that day and I couldn’t really find a shot that I liked.. that was near me anyway. I kept seeing shots I thought might be interesting, but I was a few miles too far away. I need to spend more time scouting it out in advance.
Oh, and Hoover Dam :) Another early morning excursion, was nice to walk around. I’ve been there a few times before, but I really love the art deco style.
At this point you might have forgotten the conference and the comment on people in the title…
So I did go to a few classes at the conference. Photo walks, where you basically follow the instructor around and shoot models based on whatever the intent of the class was, and classes, which were basically classes :) They were a bit annoying. Not all of them and I’m not going to call anyone specifically out, but yeah, annoying. I’m going to just some it up with: you are not as important to the attendees(or instructors) around you as you think you are. For the attendees, everyone is paying for these things, don’t hog the instructor/model .. especially not the model when you’re not even shooting (just standing in the way while talking loudly to the instructor). The photo walks are overcrowded as it is, don’t be a dick. For the instructors, I’m paying for the class, not to be your intern.. I have no problem helping carry things when asked, but you are literally not the boss of me. Don’t treat me like I work for you. Ok, that said, some of the classes were really interesting but I’m not sure if I’ll go again next year. If I do I guess I’ll be a bit pickier about classes I choose.